Chapter 323: Darkness hidden beneath the light
To the naked eye, the sheer, white marble wall of the Grand Cathedral was completely empty.
But a keen observer might have noticed a strange, shimmering distortion moving slowly up the side of the stone, like heat rising off a summer road.
Inside that distortion, three figures clung to the wall, suspended hundreds of feet above the heavily patrolled courtyard.
"Keep your breathing steady," Elena whispered, her voice barely a vibration in the dense pocket of air surrounding them.
Sweat beaded on the High Elf’s forehead. Her right eye, magnified by the silver rim of the Photon Lens, glowed with intense focus.
She was maintaining the [Vacuum Shroud] over all three of them, spinning the ambient air so violently that the holy magelights illuminating the Cathedral simply bent around their bodies.
"I’m steady," Lukas replied softly. He had jammed the thick, adamantine claws of his Magitech Gauntlets into the mortar between the marble blocks, serving as an anchor.
Below them, a patrol of twenty Crusade Paladins marched past, their Divine Armor clanking in perfect, terrifying unison. They didn’t look up. They couldn’t see the ghosts scaling their sanctuary.
Alaric hung below Lukas, holding on with one hand while the other balanced the immense weight of The Anvil strapped to his back.
He used the brutal Impact Calibration Damien had tortured him with back in school.
The Titan’s Capacitor in his chest hummed, regulating his kinetic output. He applied just enough pressure to hold his weight, treating the stone as if it were an eggshell.
"Balcony ahead," Alaric rumbled softly, pointing up with his chin. "Ten meters."